Feds approve new Georgia political maps

The Obama Administration has approved new political lines in Georgia despite complaints from state Democrats that the maps dilute minority voting strength.

The U.S. Department of Justice approved new maps for Congress and the state Senate and House, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Friday.

Republicans noted that the ruling was the first time all three of the state’s maps won approval since Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965. It was also the first time Republicans controlled the redistricting process in Georgia and a Democratic administration was in power when maps were redrawn.

“As secretary of the House redistricting committee, I can say we worked hard to make sure the maps are fair, sensible and constitutional, and DOJ agrees,” said state Rep. Doug McKillip, R-Athens.

McKillip’s new district will increase his chances of re-election. He switched parties last year, and his left-leaning district in Clarke County will shift to include parts of heavily Republican Oconee, Jackson and Barrow counties.

The new maps will help Republicans consolidate their control over state government and perhaps win another congressional seat. Democratic U.S. Rep. John Barrow is losing his home in Savannah, and thousands of supporters along with it, making his East Georgia district a target for Republicans.

Because Georgia added about 1.5 million people in the last decade, according to the 2010 Census, it won a 14th congressional district. State lawmakers drew that district to run from Gainesville and Athens north to the state line.

U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, is losing the northern part of his district and gaining territory in Middle Georgia and the eastern fringes of metro Atlanta. The new map splits Clarke County between Broun’s 10th District and the new, open 9th District.

State lawmakers approved the maps and Deal signed them into law during a three-week special session in August.

Democrats cried foul, accusing Republicans of playing politics to solidify their hold on state power. It was the same claim Republicans made when Democrats ruled the state and controlled the redrawing of political lines — something Republicans often noted, even as they argued that their maps were fairer than Democrats’ in past decades.

“The responsible approach taken by the General Assembly during the redistricting process resulted in carefully drawn maps, which ensure that Georgia’s growing population will be fairly represented,” state Attorney General Sam Olens said.

The new state House map creates eight additional majority-black districts and sets up 10 face-offs between incumbents from the same party. The congressional map bolsters Democratic U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop’s district in Southwest Georgia while weakening Barrow, the last white Democrat in Congress from the Deep South.

Georgia Democrats and their allies countered that by “packing” black voters into districts, they are actually limiting the ability of African-Americans to have more political influence and to form coalitions with others to select a candidate of their choice. The maps are an attempt to “resegregrate Georgia,” said Sen. Horacena Tate, D-Atlanta.

“The proposed maps unfairly isolate minority voters from their coalition partners, violating the spirit of the Voting Rights Act,” said Sen. Jason Carter, D-Decatur. “These maps attempt to erode the multi-racial coalitions that Georgia has been so successful in building. And it is clear that the purpose of these maps is to discriminate against certain voters because of their political views. That is unconstitutional.“

Georgia and eight other states — mostly in the South — must receive pre-clearance of any election-related changes under the Voting Rights Act because of a past history of discrimination.

The state’s Democrats have pledged to challenge the boundaries in court, but it’s unclear what their next step will be. They “expressed optimism for the continued judicial process the maps will undergo” in a news release.

“We could have taken a different path during the special reapportionment session,” said Rep. Billy Mitchell, the House Democrats’ assistant whip. “Instead, Republican partisanship prevailed and now we will be forced to revisit this matter in litigation and the courts, taking time away from the real issues that matter to Georgians.”

Republicans countered that the Voting Rights Act required them to protect minority incumbents.